iLs Dreampad HRV Study

Abstract

Well over 70% of people in the US report that they regularly experience physical and psychological symptoms caused by stress. An estimated 50-70 million US adults have sleep or wakefulness disorder. Anxiety disorders are the most common mental illness in the U.S., affecting 40 million adults in the United States age 18 and older. This pilot project was designed as a first step in determining the efficacy of the Integrated Listening Systems’ (iLs) Dreampad™ in engaging the parasympathetic branch of the autonomic nervous system. HFC is representative of synchronous coupling between heart rate variations and respiration. The more synchronous these signals, the healthier the autonomic nervous system. It has been associated with vagal tone, and improved HFC may indicate parasympathetic dominance, which will promote a more favorable internal environment for resting/sleeping. Subjects in the pilot study relaxed for 15 min without and then with the Dreampad while data, including HFC data, were collected. 82% of subjects saw significant improvement in HFC while using the Dreampad. Further research with additional populations is in progress.

What is iLs?

iLs is a complementary approach to brain fitness which can be integrated into a broad variety of educational, therapeutic and self-improvement programs. In the same way we can train our bodies to become stronger and healthier, iLs trains the brain to process sensory, cognitive and emotional information more effectively. With better synaptic connectivity, we perform better. It’s about as simple as that.

We start with music and movement, and then gradually integrate language and cognitive processes. The exercises appear simple but become increasingly difficult as we add new layers for simultaneous processing. The program involves no computers or screens of any type. Someone once referred to iLs as “a boot camp for the brain.” We’d like to think of it more as play, and we all know we work hardest when we play!